Permian basin rig count up one this week to 546

MRT

Published 1:19 pm, Friday, May 16, 2014

HOUSTON — The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the Permian Basin increased one this week to 546, according to the weekly rig count report released Friday by Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes.

Texas decreased four rigs, ending the week at 891. In other Texas basins, the Eagle Ford added one rig to end the week at 219, the Granite Wash was down two for a total of 62 and the Barnett finished the week with 25 rigs, down one.

At this time last year there were 469 rigs in the Permian Basin and 837 in Texas.

The number of rigs searching for oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased six this week to 1,861. There were 1,531 rigs listed as searching for oil, up three; 326 as searching for natural gas, up three; and four as miscellaneous, unchanged. A year ago this week there were 1,769 rigs in the U.S.

By trajectory, there were 406 vertical drilling rigs, up two; 1,248 horizontal drilling rigs, up five; and 207 directional drilling rigs, down one.

The top five basins by rig count this week were the Permian; the Eagle Ford; the Williston with 183, up one; the Marcellus with 83, down one; and the Mississippian with 77, down one.

The top five states by rig count were Texas; Oklahoma with 195, up 3; North Dakota with 174, unchanged; Louisiana with 113, down one; and New Mexico with 89, down two.

In the U.S. there were 1,791 rigs listed as on land, up nine; 13 as in inland waters, down one; and 57 as offshore, down two.

There were 56 rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, down two.

The number of rigs searching for oil and natural gas in Canada increased eight this week to 153. There were 62 rigs listed as searching for oil, up eight; 91 as searching for natural gas, unchanged; and zero as miscellaneous, unchanged. At this time last year there were 123 rigs in Canada.

The total number of rigs in the North America region this week — which includes the U.S. and Canada but excludes the Gulf of Mexico — increased 14 to 2,014. A year ago this week there were 1,882 rigs in North America.

For more information about the weekly rig count, visit the Baker Hughes website at bakerhughes.com.